Finding Captain Karol
by AmazonGold
Summary: After the events in the game; Brave Vesperia settles in Dahngrest with Karol leading the guild. But he goes missing on a job after an argument with Yuri, hinting at his past before he met them all. Rated M for heavily implied adult themes for now. *Repost with some edits*


Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Vesperia, just a very big fan. Repost with some minor editing changes.

* * *

Yuri walked in to see his young leader hunched over a desk in their base in Dahngrest; he had a few pieces of paper in front of him, jobs probably. Karol rubbed his eyes and lent back with a sigh.

"Tough decisions, boss?" Yuri asked with a smile, making Karol jump a little. Karol looked up at him, then back down at the jobs.

"Yeah, we got too much work and not enough people." Karol mused dejectedly. Things had been hectic since they had turned back the Adephagos. Estelle had gone back to the capital to help Ioder rebuild things. Rita, of course, had gone with her. That just left him, Raven, Yuri, Judith and Repede. Raven was still technically a member of Altosk but he helped out most times. No one seemed to mind that in the Union, they wouldn't get very far even if they did. His life did belong to Brave Vesperia, after all.

"We may have to turn some of them down then." Yuri said in a matter of fact manner. Karol shook his head.

"No! These are all important; it just might take a while to get them all done." The captain picked up three of the pieces of paper off the desk, nodding to himself when he made a decision. "You and Repede need to collect the ingredients needed on this list, we are running low on vital supplies for the clinics, you should be able to find most of these on Tolybiccia so you shouldn't need a lift." Yuri nodded and took the paper outstretched to him, scanning through it.

"What are the rest of you going to do?" He asked, looking at the job papers Karol was still holding.

"Judith and Raven can go to Hypionia to get some more ingredients we need…" Karol had his back to him, heading for the door. "And I am going to the Wesand of Cados." Karol yanked the door open, hoping to escape before there was an argument, a hand appeared above his head in a second, slamming the door closed.

"By yourself, Karol?" Yuri asked. Karol sighed and turned around to face the older swordsman.

"Yes, Yuri, by myself. I can use Ba'ul to get there and back; I shouldn't be gone for more a day, in fact, we all should be back by tonight." Karol put the pieces of paper back into his bag. "Look, I know you don't like me taking jobs by myself, but the fact remains that your two jobs require you to fight a lot of monsters to get the quantities we need. Mine, I should have to fight one or two, three tops." Yuri released the door and folded his arms across his chest.

"Still, you should come with me today; we can both go to Cados tomorrow." Yuri stated, expecting Karol to cave in as he did normally. He got a shock when the captain shook his head violently.

"Stop treating me like I can't do anything by myself!" Karol was angry. "I know I am young, but I am a lot more capable than you give me credit for, Yuri… I thought you knew that now." Yuri looked away; he hated it whenever someone brought up the Blade Drifts, how helpless he had felt watching Karol fight all on his own.

"I know you are, Karol, but that doesn't me-" Yuri started to say, before the young captain interrupted him.

"You know what, Yuri? Forget it, you just don't get it, what it's like to grow up on your own, at least you had Flynn and the others in the lower quarter looking out for you… I didn't, I had to look out for me." Karol's mouth was set in a grim line as he turned and opened the door. "I can take care of myself." And with that, he left. Yuri looked a little dumbfounded and glanced down at Repede,

"Now what was all that about?" He asked. Repede just whined in response.

* * *

Karol had arrived at the Wesand of Cados without incident, and was currently deep inside the winding tunnels, hunting out his prey. His mind was elsewhere though, still thinking over the argument he had had with Yuri that morning.

"Stupid Yuri!" He mumbled as he crept around a rock, avoiding the fights he didn't need to partake in. "Always thinking that I can't handle myself, I grew up on the streets of Dahngrest, probably seen more things than he ever will!" He spat out bitterly, and then he spotted it. The final monster that he needed to collect all the supplies he was here for. With a battle cry he ran forward, barrelling into it to initiate the fight. Karol dispatched it with ease and allowed himself a small smirk of pride as he placed his prize into his beloved bag.

"Right, time to get back." He said to himself as he stood up spotting the flying enemy too late. He jumped back to avoid it. Not realising how close he was to the edge of the path, he scrambled to grab something, getting his hands round a rock. But it was loose, the rock and him tumbled into the darkness. Karol landed hard, knocking the wind out of him… then the rock that had fallen with him landed with a sickening crunch on his left leg. Karol let out a scream of agony and promptly passed out.

* * *

Yuri sat impatiently in the Sagittarius tavern - their unofficial meeting place when they all had jobs. He kept his eyes firmly on the door waiting for his companions to turn up. He breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted the Krytian and the old man wandering in with their packs full. They walked over and sat down.

"Sorry that we're late, some of us aren't up to the task of hard work anymore." Judith said with a teasing smile to Raven.

"Well, ya know, these old bones ain't what they used to be, darlin'." He laughed, looking around "Hey, where's the kid? He gone to bed already? He was with you today, right?"

"What do you mean?" Yuri asked "_Captain Karol_ decided to go by himself to the Wesand of Cados to get us a few bits. What? He didn't tell you?" Yuri was still a little sore from their fight this morning and it showed from the sarcastic use of the boy's nickname. Raven's eyes narrowed and his lips thinned into a line.

"No, he didn't and judging by your tone, he probably wanted to avoid another argument." Judith said in her ever perceptive way. Raven rose from his chair.

"Well, I was lookin' forward to some sleep but it's nearly daybreak, we had best go lookin' for him." He turned towards the door, mumbling something about 'idiots lettin' children go on their own'. Yuri and Judith rose to follow him.

"Hey, Judy, I didn't just let him go, I tried to st-" Yuri started to say, Judith shook her head.

"I know and he knows it too, the old man is just worried - don't take it to heart." She told him with a smile. Yuri smiled a little himself before letting it fall as he thought _'He's not the only one.'_

* * *

Yuri was on the Fierta's deck, leaning on the railing looking out to the horizon. The sunrise was beautiful over the ocean but the young swordsman hardly noticed it. He couldn't get that argument out of his head, what could Karol have possibly meant? Yuri couldn't work it out, he thought he knew the kid pretty well but when he came out with stuff like that, he realised that he really didn't. Yuri was stirred from his musing by a presence besides him; glancing to the side he saw the purple of the old man's coat, looks like he'd been forgiven.

"Hey, kid, you look like you got somethin' on your mind…" Raven asked. "More than the obvious, I mean."

"Just something Karol said about growing up on his own with no one looking out for him." Yuri mumbled "There was a flash in his eyes like it was something he was trying to forget, I can't get that outta my head." Yuri stopped when he realised the old man wasn't beside him anymore, he looked to see Raven had drawn back, rubbing his forehead with a weird but thoughtful expression.

"What is it? Do you know something, old man?" Yuri asked.

"Nothin' definite." Raven paused, thinking his words out "But Dahngrest isn't the easiest place ta grow up an orphan, ya know, the only guarantee of safety an' a full belly is to join a guild." Raven sighed. "But nothin' in this life is free… there's a possibility the kid was used before he was old enough to be useful in other ways."

"Used?" Yuri asked puzzled. "How do you mean?" Raven gave him a pained look.

"You gonna make me spell it out?" That's when Judith butted in. They hadn't even realised she was listening, her tone was even but her eyes betrayed her disgust.

"You mean the older guild members would use the younger ones for gratification; in return for room and board?" Raven just nodded in answer. "And Altosk allowed that?"

"Hell no! If we ever found evidence that anyone was doin' that, it was immediate expulsion from the Union with a few less teeth and body parts!" Raven look enraged but suddenly his shoulders sank. "But the younger ones hardly ever come forward, too scared of repercussions - too scared of not being believed." Yuri hadn't said anything for a while, he felt sick to his stomach and tightness in his chest. The thought that Karol could have been…

"No, not Karol, there is no way! He couldn't have kept something like that from us!" _'From me!' _Yuri added internally as he shook his head in disbelief. He looked for confirmation and reassurance from his friends, Raven wouldn't – or couldn't, meet his eyes.

"Karol does go out of his way to be useful to us." Judith mused. "Making maps, filling in the monster book, cooking for us…"

"Judy, no, please…" Yuri said closing his eyes and gripping his hand into a fist.

"Hey! I don't like it any more than you do but you have to admit it makes sense! That boy carries a lot beneath the surface that he doesn't let anyone see, not even you and Raven!" Judith's eyes flashed angrily, why was it always her that had to be the cold realist? Silence fell over the group for a few moments, before Raven piped up.

"Look, nothin' is for definite. The kid may have had a hard life without any of that stuff." Raven said with a certainty that he didn't feel. "Let's just find him an' bring him home." Yuri nodded in agreement and turned around, leaning on the railing again.

"Alright, we're nearly there." He said. His mind racing _'Karol, please be ok… I'm sorry, I didn't understand.'_

* * *

Karol was desperately thirsty; his canteen was in his bag along with everything else of use but that was trapped with his leg under the rock. He had managed to untie the shoelace from his right foot and throw that out to collect moisture from the damp air of the aer krene. Karol sucked on the length of shoelace, it wasn't nearly enough to satisfy his thirst but it would keep him going until the others came. Karol threw the string out again and laid back, he tried to work out how long he had been down there.

He shivered and pulled his gloves higher on his wrists; he was so cold it hurt. He knew it couldn't be more than a day. He'd got Ba'ul to give him a lift there, he also had his horn; seeing as Judith could call Ba'ul on her own. He should have been back in Dahngrest by nightfall. The others would notice he was gone and would come for him; he had no doubt about that. Karol shivered again and tried to shift in to a more comfortable position without jarring his leg. He was getting worried; his leg was numb. A relief from the searing agony he felt when he landed but worrying nonetheless. Karol closed his eyes, not expecting to sleep but he wanted to try and conserve his strength.

"I just gotta stay alive a little longer; they will come for me… right, Don?"

* * *

Yuri looked into the Wesand of Cados from the entrance; it was still crawling with monsters. He tried to ignore the thoughts running through his head of all the awful scenarios that could have befallen his young friend. He looked down at Repede; his ever faithful canine companion.

"Alright, Repede, I'm counting on you." Repede looked up at him. "Go find Karol!" Repede took off with a determined bark. Yuri followed him closely, Raven and Judith not far behind. The old man had been subdued ever since their conversation earlier, Judith didn't think any of them would feel better until they got Karol safely home. After that, who knows? Maybe they could get the truth from him, learn something about their little leader who more often than not, showed them he was much more world wise than he let on. Raven's head shot up at Repede's excited barking.

"He's found him!" Raven ran forward to join Yuri and Repede at the side of a crevice, it didn't look too deep but it was too dark to see all the way to the bottom. "Down there?" Raven asked with that cold feeling in his stomach again, were they going to find Karol or Karol's body?

"Looks like it." Yuri was staring intently down, as if daring the darkness to stand in his way. "KAROL!" He yelled loudly. There was nothing to be heard except the echo of Yuri's shout; Repede whined before his ears pricked up.

"Yuri?" A voice called shakily from below. It took all of Yuri's strength not to jump down there right now.

"Karol! Hold on! We'll be right down!" He turned to Judith, who had already produced a rope. Raven tied it to a rock that was jutting out; kicking it a couple of times to make sure it was stable. Judith tossed the rope down into the crevice; Yuri took the lead, smiling at his old friend.

"You stand guard up here, Repede, good job!" He began scaling down in to the darkness.

Yuri touched solid ground before long; he whipped a torch out of his pack and lit it, holding it high. He heard Judith and Raven touch down behind him.

"There!" Judith said pointing to where there was something that looked faintly yellow in the gloom. Yuri ran over and sank down on his knees besides the boy; Karol looked up at him tiredly.

"Yuri… I knew you guys would come." He smiled weakly. Yuri laughed in relief as he placed the torch down before glancing at the leg under the rock.

"Yeah, well, it wouldn't be much of a guild without the captain, right?" He spotted the shoelace stretched out to the side. _'Clever, Karol, very clever'_ He thought with admiration, he unclipped his canteen and held it out to him. "Here, you must be th-" He didn't get to finish the sentence before Karol grabbed it and started glugging it down.

"Careful, Karol, you don't want to get sick." Judith cautioned him as she watched the boy. Raven was looking at the rock trapping Karol's leg.

"Yuri, gonna need a hand here to shift this thing. I'm thinkin' if me and you can get this lifted a few inches, Judith can yank the kid out and we can put it down." Raven looked at the captain, his voice serious. "Karol, when we shift this thing all the blood is gonna to go rushin' back into yer leg… brace yourself." Karol wiped his mouth and nodded.

"Here." Judith popped a piece of wood wrapped in leather into his mouth. "Bite down on this." Yuri positioned himself next to the old man.

"Ok then, on three." Yuri put his hands into the small gap between the crevice floor and the rock, Raven followed suit. "One, two, three." Yuri lifted as hard as he could, sweat beading on his forehead. He was vaguely aware of something glowing red besides him. _'Careful, old man, don't wanna be carrying you out too.'_ The rock shifted and Yuri could hear muffled screams of agony before Judith finally called.

"Got him!" Raven and Yuri let the rock back down and sat down puffing and panting.

"Karol?" Yuri asked when he got his breath back. Judith shook her head.

"He's passed out…" She was looking at the mangled mess of Karol's left leg. "We may need to take him to Zaphias, we may need Estelle." Yuri looked up.

"Well, let's get him out of this hole first, and then decide where to take him." Yuri dug around in Karol's slightly squished bag until he found a mat. Judith helped him carefully lay Karol on to it and carried him to the end of the rope. Raven cut the excess from the rope and used it to tie the make shift stretcher to the remaining rope securely.

"You young 'uns go up and pull, I'll watch from down here ta make sure he doesn't fall." Raven's grin was fake, his chest was aching from shifting that rock; he cursed his body inwardly.

"Careful, old man, we may forget to throw the rope back down for you." Yuri's grin told him he had no intention of doing so. It had the desired effect though as Raven's real grin recovered.

"Kids these days, I tell ya, no respect." Yuri laughed as he followed Judith back up the rope and set about pulling Karol up.

* * *

Judith had called Ba'ul as soon as they got out of Cados; Tokanaga met them at the top of the ramp. He looked at Karol and said.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Get some hot water and any first aid supplies we have to the cabin." Yuri said from his position at the front of the stretcher.

"And some dry clothes and blankets too." Judith said from behind him, Yuri glanced back at her. "He's been lying in a cold, damp cave for the best part of two days, he was freezing." She explained, Yuri nodded and headed for the cabin. Between the two of them they got the captain on to the bed, Tokanaga had brought what was needed. Yuri used a knife to cut away the left leg of Karol's trousers so he could get a better look at what he was dealing with.

"Yikes, this is bad." Yuri said to no one in particular, he looked down at the medical supplies "Do I clean the wounds first? Or do I stabilise the break?" He heard a sigh behind him as he was pushed out of the way.

"Here let me do it, I've been fixin' up wounds since before you were born." Raven pulled up a stool and sat by the bed. He rolled up his sleeves and dipped a clean cloth into the hot water, wringing it out and beginning to gently clean the dried blood, mud and muck off of Karol's leg. "See if you can find somethin' to use as a splint, we'll need two, one for each side." Yuri nodded and pushed himself off the wall walking into the store room. Raven worked quickly and with experienced skill, cleaning the wounds with warm water, then antiseptic. He cut a gel in half and used the goo inside to close some of the smaller cuts. He was vaguely aware of the sound of something smashing from the direction of the storeroom as he realised he had nothing to use for stitches. Yuri came in brandishing two table legs looking vaguely pleased with himself.

"These look about the right length, don't they?" He asked, leaning them up against the bed. Raven nodded as he placed gauze on the wounds he couldn't close, the bleeding seemed to have stopped thankfully.

"We shouldn't need to go to Zaphias, one of the healers in Dahngrest should be able to fix up these cuts and reset his leg for us." Raven said as he put one splint on either side of Karol's leg and used the remaining gauze to strap it in place. He sat back and cracked his knuckles. "That's about the best that I can do for now." He grabbed his knife and used it to cut away the remainder of Karol's trousers. Then, with Yuri's help, he removed Karol's shirt and put a dry one on. It was way too big for the kid but it would do for now.

"You watch him for now, Raven." Yuri said as the old man covered up the captain with a blanket. "I'll let Judy know where we are headed." Raven just nodded and got himself comfortable for his vigil.

* * *

Yuri returned a little while later, as he opened the door; he had to smile at the scene. The old man was off his stool, leaning against the bed fast asleep. Yuri took one of the extra blankets and laid it over him. Yuri sat on the stool and looked at the young boy.

"You're awake, aren't you?" Yuri asked him softly so as not to disturb Raven. Karol opened his eyes slowly and nodded. "You in pain?" Karol just nodded again. Yuri fished a gel out of Karol's bag and gave it to him.

"Thank you." Karol said as some of the tension in his face eased. He was silent for a second before he said. "I'm sorry, Yuri, you were right. We shouldn't do any one man jobs anymore, anything can happen." He sighed as he said it. He looked away in embarrassment; he often felt it should be the older man running things and not him. He obviously still had a lot to learn.

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry too." Yuri said, Karol looked at him with a question on his face. "I didn't mean to make you think that I thought you weren't capable, I know you are." Karol smiled at him before closing his eyes with a yawn. That made Yuri's next question die on his lips, now wasn't the time. He rubbed his own eyes, he needed sleep too but he would wait till they got Karol to the clinic in Dahngrest. He heard the door click open and nodded to Judith as she sat beside him, she had a frown on her face.

"What?" Yuri asked, fairly certain he wasn't going to like the answer.

"I realised today that Karol's never hugged me." Judith sighed, Yuri thought for a second.

"Me either, not even when I came back after Zaude, I mean he ran up to me but stopped." Yuri remembered "I thought it was because he was angry that I hadn't let him know I was ok, but maybe not now that I think about it." Yuri sighed lowering his head with a shake, everything made too much sense.

"I was thinking…" Judith said making Yuri look up at her. "Do we really have to know? I just can't see what good it would do to bring up the past - apart from hurt Karol by opening old wounds." Yuri nodded, he could see the sense in what she said.

"I just have to know, Judy, I need to know." Yuri grit his teeth. "And once I know, I will get names and then I will go and break some heads."

"Not if I beat you to it." Raven chimed in surprising them both, a hard look in eyes. One that was more Schwann than Raven. Yuri flashed him an understanding smile.

"Alright, old man, I will take you with me." That seemed to satisfy the former Knight who closed his eyes once again.

* * *

The doctor in the clinic was looking over Karol's leg; Raven and Yuri were stood near the wall. Judith was giving all the ingredients they had gathered to the craftsmen to make into supplies.

"Well, there is no sign of infection, which is good…" Karol smiled at that "But I can't stitch up these wounds until I reset the leg." Karol paled when he said that. The doctor patted his arm. "Relax, I have just the thing to knock you out, you won't feel a thing." He pulled a vial of some liquid out of his bag. Karol's eyes widened in horror.

"N-no way!" He exclaimed. "What if I don't wake up?"

"Highly unlikely, now open up." The doctor said, uncorking the bottle. Karol clamped his mouth shut and shook his head. Yuri shared a glance with the old man and pushed himself off the wall. Raven took the bottle without a word as Yuri stood the other side of Karol's head. The young leader's eyes darted from one to the other, deeply mistrustful.

"Sorry, Karol, this is for your own good." Yuri stated evenly as he reached forward, he put one arm across Karol's torso to stop him struggling and used the other hand to clamp his nostrils closed. Karol tried to thrash around but Yuri was just too strong for him. His face grew redder until his mouth opened in a gasp.

Raven saw his chance and grabbed Karol's jaw with his free hand and used the other to pour a small quantity from the bottle into his mouth, tilting his chin up to make sure he swallowed. Karol choked and coughed but couldn't stop him. He glared at his friends in betrayal and anger. Raven tried to calm him.

"You don't wanna be awake for this, trust me." He said knowingly. Karol just glared at him, his eyelids already beginning to droop but he was fighting it hard. Yuri rubbed his head with affection.

"Just go to sleep, you'll be fine in a few hours." Karol looked at him, fear replacing his anger as he realised he couldn't stop himself from going under. He grabbed Yuri's hand tightly.

"Yuri, I'm scared." He managed to say before the sedative finally kicked in and he lost consciousness. Yuri sighed with guilt as he released Karol's hand. The two left the room to let the doctor do his work with the help of a copy of strong orderlies.

"You think he'll forgive us, old man?" Yuri asked.

"Probably, that kid's too nice ta hold a grudge." Raven looked at Yuri, who was dead on his feet. "That stuff is gonna keep him out for a few hours, why don't you go and get some sleep? I will hang around here and come get you if somethin' changes." Yuri nodded and gave Raven a small wave of appreciation before heading back to base.


End file.
